Huckleberry Swedes
MusicSA Feature Artist 10 June - 30 June 2009
Take a soul singer like Marvin Gaye, send him to Neil Young's farm for work experience, get him to jam with Levon Helm and the Band and then take him on a fishing trip with Paul Kelly and you'll have an idea of the Huckleberry Swedes . Guitars, Banjo, Hammond Organ, Squeeze Box and great harmonies.
Huckleberry Swedes are a five piece outfit hailing from South Australia. With BJ Barker on drums, Sam Willoughby on bass/vocals, Richard "The Judge" Coates on keyboards/accordion, Mark Elberg on guitars/banjo/mandolin/vocals and Troy Loakes on vocals/guitar, this band of experienced players have rightly developed a name as a great live act.
The ‘Swedes shows are delivered with an intense heart and soul that has seen them invited to spend the last year criss-crossing the Eastern States to perform at some of our finest music festivals, including Byron Bay Blues and Roots, Apollo Bay, Gympie Music Muster, Fuse Festival, Tamworth and the Robe Village Fair as well as performing their own tours.
Sometimes alt Country, sometimes Soul, Huckleberry Swedes are artists with voices that join in the ups and downs of our time. Songs about the love of fishing, pies, and sweethearts, songs of protest, underdog anthems and melancholic musings baked in a crust of roots, rock, folk, soul, Australiana and Americana. They’re a band that asks questions about who we are, and what our place is in the land.
Their name comes from American anti imperialist, anti racist, humorist/satirist and writer Mark Twain. It's a pun on the title of his most famous book 'Huckleberry Finn', arguably the most important work of American fiction (which he may have found humorous if still alive today).
The Huckleberry Swedes history is as chequered as hounds tooth pants, but a brief look into the band member’s origins and influences will give you some idea of the Huckleberry’s make up.
Until February 2005, the Huckleberry Swedes worked mainly as a duo; Troy Loakes (vocals/acoustic guitar) and Mark Elberg (guitar/banjo/mandolin/ vocals), spending most of their time recording and touring in Europe under the name Canvas. The guys met in a Ski Village in Austria in 1994, performing in a "musical sweatshop" of a venue in which each act was expected to perform upwards of four sets a night.
Loakes recalls "meeting Mark in this environment which could sometimes feel musically unrewarding and extremely tough, I mean literally bleeding fingers and bouts of Bronchitis, mixed up with a poor diet and the DT's, was a breath of fresh air. We were like minded and we pulled off some of the wildest renditions of obscure covers you can imagine."
Troy and Mark spent their down time between sets writing and jamming together, and during these late night sessions discovered a musical chemistry that has kept them creating music together for the last fifteen years, over thousands of kilometres and just as many gigs. In 2000, they independently released the self-titled album Canvas, launching it with a ten piece band of Adelaide’s finest musicians.
With a line up change, new material and name change, The Huckleberry Swedes went into the studio in April 2005 with their original rhythm section consisting of drummer Toby Lang (The Audreys ) and bass player Paul Cartwright and recorded the EP Hair trigger. Paul's other work commitments led him to bow out and he was replaced by Sam Willoughby in late 2005.
In January 2006 the band created a bit of a stir at Tamworth and made heaps of new friends, in particular the Flood and Bill Chambers. Shortly after, Loakes and Elberg embarked on a short European tour playing promo gigs, before June of that year saw the full band on the road, touring both as Bill Chambers’ backing band and the support act.
Huckleberry Swedes spent 2007 writing, recording and doing short tours around the traps with new drummer BJ Barker (Kasey Chambers, Dead Ringer Band) now on board. 2008 saw them build their profile with appearances at some of Australia’s finest festivals and a handful of small, self promoted tours.
Now in 2009, Huckleberry Swedes are touring nationally to promote their debut full length album, produced by Midnight Oil's, Jim Moginie entitled "Suburban Dreaming;" available at all good record stores and online through huckleberryswedes.com and itunes.
Catch them on the road across Australia (see the Tour Diary for all dates), and back home in SA on Saturday 27th June at the Wheatsheaf Hotel .
Head to the MusicSA Contest Corner for your chance to win a copy of Huckleberry Swedes' debut LP "Suburban Dreaming"!
